


Bloom! Episode 4 - Mischief Maker

by pashaimeru



Series: Bloom! [4]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Bad Ending, Corruption, F/F, Magical Girls, Mind Control, Transformation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-06
Updated: 2019-09-06
Packaged: 2021-02-25 22:35:01
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,926
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21593161
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pashaimeru/pseuds/pashaimeru
Summary: Good natured mischief or mere bullying? A magical girl must always protect their friends, even against the most wicked of imps.
Series: Bloom! [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1556194
Kudos: 9





	1. True Path

”Hey. Don’t do that again.”

Someone grabbed Irma by her shoulder as she was walking down the school corridor. Spinning around, she found herself face to face with a girl she recognised immediately: the school darling, Effie Pedding. It was easy to see why she was so popular: the bright orange hair with the sporty ponytail, the tomboyish way she dressed, contrasted by her natural cuteness that was further enhanced by her small frame. No wonder she was adored by boys and girls alike. No wonder Irma felt so annoyed every time she saw her. “Do what?” she asked, rolling her eyes.

Effie frowned, not letting go of her shoulder. “Don’t mess around. It was you with that spider, right? You know Mary’s afraid of them. Is it that fun for you to bully her?”

The school had had something of a bullying problem in the past that the teachers had been ill-equipped and unwilling to deal with. Last year, Effie had made it her duty to make it all stop. It had gotten her in trouble—but it had worked. She was someone even the most obstinate jerks in the school were now willing to listen to, at least after the rowdy fistfight in the school yard before last summer. Even Irma had thought of Effie as something of a hero back then. But now, she was just pissing her off.

“That...” Irma said, wrenching her shoulder free. “...was a harmless prank. I’m not a _bully_. I’m not out to hurt anyone. I just thought it’d be funny!” She wasn’t lying, she really had nothing against Mary. She liked pranks, but she targeted people indiscriminately. She was in it for the joke, for the funny reactions, for the confusion and chaos. If Mary had started crying just because she had found a toy spider in her desk, that was on her. The rest of the class, at least, had gotten some fun out of her reaction.

Effie crossed her arms. “She has it rough, you know? She doesn’t really need anything like this right now,” she said, her expression softening a bit. “Look... I get that you just want to have some fun. You probably didn’t intend to hurt her. But jokes played at the expense of others aren’t funny.”

“What are you trying to be, a teacher? This isn’t your business, anyway.” A year older than Irma and Mary, Effie wasn’t in the same class as them. Mary had probably tattled to her; plenty of girls across the school flocked to Effie to talk about their problems and seek advice, Mary included. The fact that she had to ask for help instead of confronting her herself just made Mary more pathetic in her eyes.

“I said what I wanted to say,” Effie said. “Just don’t pick on people again, okay?”

Irma frowned, watching the older girl leave. The mature act Effie was putting on was the most annoying thing about her by far. Fakes like her had always riled Irma up. This was a school; they were all kids here, so why pretend to be an adult? The only reason Effie was acting the way she was, now, was because so many people looked up to her now. She wanted to look cooler and more mature she was, but deep on the inside, Irma knew, Effie was just a brat. Just like everyone else.

Later that day, as Irma did her best to procrastinate on her homework, her computer screen unexpectedly turned off. Another annoyance; Irma could vaguely see herself frown through the foggy reflection of herself cast by the monitor’s matte surface. As she reached for the power button to turn it back on, an unexpected face appeared on the screen. A kid, maybe her own age, her features vague and blurry in the poorly reflective surface of the monitor. She had a witch’s hat, the corners of her mouth turned upwards in a mischievous little smirk.

“H-huh?” Irma blinked, her mouth hanging open. She was not sure how to react.

“I like you. You’ve got spunk!” the witch said, the voice seemingly coming from inside of Irma’s own head. “You’re right. Everyone’s such a bore, right! You just wanna have some fun. Why listen to those jerks who want to put an end to that?” There was a giggle.

Though the words that the strange reflection was saying rang true, the dread that Irma suddenly felt in her heart suggested that the witch wasn’t someone to listen to. She stood up from the chair, turning around and trying to reach the door. Mum... mum would know what to do.

“Seeking adult help?” The witch giggled again. “Please, who needs them!” There was something in her hand: a cute little magic wand, pointed at Irma’s back. “ _Lutila lilula_! Show me your true self!”

The beam seemed to pass right through Irma’s back, not hitting her but rather something within her. She gasped, falling on her knees, letting out a little cry as the transformation began. What had she been running away for? This felt so _good_.

* * *

“A new Lilin has been born... I think.” Edeltrude looked over the three girls from the mirror.

“You think? You aren’t sure?” Sofia asked, eating grapes from a bowl. The other two girls, lying on the floor, looked curiously at the princess.

She looked flustered. “I-it’s difficult! There are hundreds of shards, their voices very faint, and they all speak at once. I had such a hard time even reaching yours, and you have the biggest one of them all.”

“Ehehe...” Sofia grinned a bit bashfully, scratching her cheek. “But it’s alright! I’m sure you’re doing your best!”

“If she’s got the biggest shard, shouldn’t she be the strongest?” Effie asked.

“H-hey. I’m pretty strong! I just—”

Fleur sighed. “Can we focus on the Lilin, please? Trudi, can you tell us anything more about them?”

“This one’s a bit stronger than the ones you fought... I think,” the princess responded, closing her in focus. “I’m not sure. I’m sorry.”

“That’s alright!” Sofia said, recovering quickly. “Now that there’s three of us, we’re stronger than ever, too!”

“Hmmm,” Effie said, pursing her lips. “Can you fight at all, Trudi, if we get in trouble? You said our powers come from you, right? Doesn’t that make you really strong?”

The golden-haired girl in the mirror shook her head. “It’s not like that. I can awaken the shards within you, help your souls reach their full potential. With the right tools, I can use all sorts of magic, but I have nothing like that with me here. Transforming into a Bloom... it’s not something I could do. I can’t do much at all...”

Fleur gave her a soft smile. “Appearing in mirrors like this is impressive enough. We all appreciate your guidance.”

“It’s not something to be impressed with.” Edeltrude had a bit of a sad expression on her face. “It’s something my people can naturally do. The world of mirrors is on the boundary between your world and ours. Staying there comes easier to me than fully appearing into your world. And it helps me evade detection. My mother’s servants can’t sense my energy unless I more fully manifest into your reality.” She sighed. “I just wish I could do something more. I can’t even reach you with my voice, half the time...”

There was a knock on the door, the handle turning and the door opening before any of the girls had managed to say a word. Oliver, Sofia’s big brother, stood on the doorway with a tray of biscuits, blinking as she looked over the girls on the floor. Edeltrude’s reflection had vanished, just in time. “What are you all sitting around the mirror for?” he asked. “Dad told me to bring over some snacks, so...”

“Get out!” yelled Sofia. “And leave the tray!”

* * *

Dot puffed her cheeks, looking like a blowfish. “So...?”

The next day after school, the four of them gathered at Dot’s and Effie’s home. Their parents were away, attending a friend’s wedding; it had seemed like the right moment for the trio of girls to tell Dot their secret.

Effie grinned. “Watch this!” she said, the three girls unifying their voices into one. “Bloom Change!”

A rainbow flash of pink, blue and yellow. The three girls stood in front of Dot in their magical girl costumes, elaborate and cute, glowing with magical light. The air trapped in Dot’s puffed up cheeks was slowly released, her face deflating as she looked over the girls with wide open eyes.

“You...” she said, finally rediscovering her ability to talk. She sprung up to her feet. “You guys were transforming superheroes, and you never told me!”

Sofia laughed. “Ahaha... l-look, it’s a new development for us. And we didn’t really find the right moment... e-eek!”

Dot had stepped forward and grabbed the pink magical girl by her cheeks. She squished them around a bit as she looked over her clothes. “Did you come up with the costumes yourselves?” she asked. “They’re cute, but... they could be way cooler! With spikes and spandex and... guns and stuff!”

“G-guns?” Fleur asked. “N-no, we did not come up with them ourselves. But they are perfectly fine as they are.”

“Yeah!” Effie said, rushing to grab her big sister by the waist to pull her away from Sofia. “Anyway, we’re really sorry for not telling you. We thought it’d be dangerous, but we don’t want to keep lying to you.”

Dot stepped back, crossing her arms and nodding a few times with a ponderous expression on her face. “I get it. Jimmie Dale never reveals his secret identity to anyone, either...”

“Who?” Sofia asked, rubbing her cheeks with a few tears in her eyes.

“But!” Dot pointed a finger towards the three. “You better keep me updated! The next time you stop a bank robbery, I want to hear it!”

“I... don’t think there are bank robberies in White Hollow,” Fleur said. “Besides, that’s not really the kind of a thing we—”

The doorbell rung, downstairs. The three magical girls looked at each other, releasing their forms and returning back to their normal selves. Dot looked sufficiently impressed with that, as well. “Where do your clothes go when you do that?”

“I’m gonna go answer the door!” Fleur said, running downstairs. After a brief hesitation, the other three followed.

There was no-one at the door. Instead, someone had dropped an envelope through the mailbox—and as faint as it was, the magical girl trio could sense something wrong with it. A cold, dark aura, identical to those of the Lilin.

* * *

“So... what is it?” Sofia asked, poking at the envelope with the tip of her finger.

Edeltrude, in the small tabletop mirror the magical girls had placed on the table, shook her head. “There’s no way to tell without opening it, and opening it is too risky. It’s quite obvious you were the target though, Effie.”

The plain white envelope had no postage no it, the name ‘Effie Pedding’ written on it with terrible handwriting. It was sealed tight, but the darkness emanating from it was clear even from a distance. Fleur had rattled it around a bit: it seemed to have something like powder inside of it.

“How could they! I’m going to kick their butt!” Dot chimed up, standing two metres away from the table. Effie had told her to keep her distance, ostensibly because there was no way to tell how it’d affect a non-Bloom like her. In reality, Sofia suspected, Effie had simply not trusted her big sister to avoid the temptation to open it.

“Do you have any idea who it could be, Effie?” Fleur asked.

“Well...” Effie said. “It’s probably someone from school. But it could be a lot of people.” As popular as she had gotten, there were plenty of kids who hated her guts, too.

“Tomorrow is a school day. Perhaps you could try to find out if anyone’s missing from their class? They could very well be the Lilin.”

Edeltrude crossed her arms. “It’s not a hundred percent reliable method. Some Lilin can assume their human forms and pretend to live as normal. And besides, who’s to say that Effie was the only target here? The longer we sit on this, the more likely it is that someone else will get hurt.”

“But, what else can we do? Run around the neighbourhood and try to sense her?”

The table fell silent. For a while, the girls racked their brains, trying to come up with ideas. Just as they were about to give up and go patrol the town again, Effie’s phone rang.

“Mary?” Effie said, answering the phone.

“E-Effie, please...” the voice said, small and frightened. “Are you home? I-I got a strange letter. I didn’t open it, but I’m alone, and...”

“I’ll be right over! Don’t open it, okay? Don’t even touch it. I’ll be right by!” Ending the call, Effie looked over the other two Blooms. “Let’s go!”

* * *

Mary was a girl one year younger than Effie, living in the same neighbourhood. They had been friends for a while now, but they had grown closer in the recent months. Mary’s mother had been hospitalised, leaving her alone for extended periods of time; it had been rough for her, and Effie had done her best to be there for her.

“Right here,” Effie said, stopping in front of Mary’s home. The front door was ajar; something was wrong. “Ah! Let’s go!”

“O-okay!” Sofia ran after her. With a bit of hesitation, so did Fleur. As soon as Effie opened the door, though, the other girls in tow, something came tumbling down. A metal bucket that had been suspended over the door hit the floor behind Effie with a clang. A cloud of dust was released into air: the bucket had been filled with some sort of a powder, and surprised by the booby trap, the trio of girls now found themselves coughing after involuntarily drawing it into their lungs.

“This...” Fleur said, coughing and bending over. “...is bad.” The strange powder carried the touch of a Lilin within it.

“I-is this poison?” Sofia asked, coughing and rubbing her itching eyes. It wasn’t just her eyes that were itching, either. The sensation seemed to spread through her whole body, accompanied by a strange heat. Thankfully, it seemed to be subsiding...

“H-hey! Are you... are you okay?” Effie said, starting at Sofia with her mouth open.

Sofia blinked, wiping her eyes with her sleeve. Wait, had it always been that long? “...Eh?” Her first thought was that her clothes had gotten bigger. After looking over Effie and Fleur, though, the truth became clear.

They were younger, all of them; a few years younger, perhaps, than Effie had previously been. They were considerably shorter, their features more childish, their clothes now comically oversized for them. Effie was the lucky one: she had changed the least, but even her trainers looked a bit too large for her now smaller feet, her jeans slumping and baggy. Fleur looked absolutely mortified, her knee-length skirt now long enough to cover her ankles, the waistband so loose she had to grab it to prevent it from sliding off. “W-what is this? This sucks!” she yelled, her voice noticeably more childish than it used to be. “I hate this!”

There was a giggle coming from somewhere inside the house. A cruel, twisted, childish tone that still sounded somewhat familiar to Effie. And then, another voice, a desperate cry: “H-help! Someone, help!”

“I think I know who this Lilin might be,” Effie said, clenching her fists. “Let’s go get her! Bloom Change!”

The other two girls nodded. “Bloom Change!”

The transformation worked just fine. The girls’ costumes, thankfully, weren’t oversized. Their design had changed a bit in subtle ways, however. Bloom Sky’s dress appeared just a bit more modest, no longer leaving her back bare; Bloom Hope, meanwhile, found her shoes no longer having any heels to speak of. Whatever magic it was that determined what their costumes should look had apparently decided to go with something more suited for younger children.

It wasn’t just their appearance that was different, though. The familiar surge of confidence and magic just wasn’t quite there anymore. The girls hadn’t lost their abilities, but they definitely felt weaker. The worried expressions on each other’s faces told them everything they needed to know.

“Let’s go!” Bloom Lux said, wanting to waste no more time. “This way... ah!”

Someone had pulled a string across the doorframe leading into the living room. Stepping into it, the yellow-costumed magical girl unceremoniously faceplanted against the floor. Bloom Sky winced empathically; Bloom Hope couldn’t help but to giggle. “S-sorry. That was just... you looked so cool, and then...”

Lifting herself hastily up, Lux clenched her fists. There were some tears of her eyes, born more out of embarrassment than pain. “I-it’s not funny! It hurt!” she said, glaring at her fellow magical girl, her cheeks glowing pink. “This isn’t the time for that!”

“Wait. Something’s wrong,” Fleur said, apparently the only one of them capable of keeping their cool. “Look, isn’t that where we came from?” On the other side of the living room was another doorway, and behind that doorway was a room identical to the entrance hall they’d come in from. No—it was the same one. The powder sprinkled all around the floor and the walls confirmed as much. And behind them was... the kitchen? They hadn’t been there yet. Something had switched the rooms around.

“Huh. That’s weird...” Bloom Hope said, sniffing a bit as she slowly came down from her fit of giggling. “What’s going on, Fl—”

“Bloom Sky,” the blue-haired magical girl said. “We’re not using our real names when someone could be listening in. Remember?”

Sofia gave her a pout in response. Fleur sighed, carefully stepping over the trap wire, slowly making her way past the living room and back into the entrance hall.

“Trudi? Are you there? Trudi?” she asked, looking into the mirror. There was no response, not even a shadow of the princess appearing on its surface. That was worrying. The connection between them and the princess wasn’t always the best, and it tended to be disrupted in the presence of the Lilin—but never before had she completely failed to appear.

Lux frowned. “These are just dumb pranks. Once I find that girl, I’m going to kick her butt so hard it... it falls off.”

Though her tone was serious—or perhaps specifically due to that—that elicited another burst of giggling from Bloom Hope. “F-falls off... it falls off... the butt...” she laughed, her eyes tearing up again. “Like that’d even be—”

The pink-haired magical girl took a careless step back. The floorboard under her creaked—and then gave in. The laughter changed into confusion as it flipped around under her, Bloom Hope vanishing under the floor. It had happened so fast she hadn’t even managed to yell in surprise; the other magical girls were left standing with their mouths open, staring at the floor where their friend had stood just a second ago.

“H-hey!” Lux said, crouching down and battering the floor where Hope had been. Nothing happened; the floor kept strong, not even creaking anymore as it just had.

“Is there a basement?” Fleur asked.

“N-not that I know!” Effie had visited Mary’s house plenty of times, but she’d never seen any evidence of her having one. The Lilin had to be somehow warping the building.

Fleur nodded, a helpless expression on her face. As impressive as she was for keeping her cool, Effie noted, she had lost some of her edge. At least this moment, the blue-haired magical girl looked like a lost child, looking for guidance. And deep inside, Effie found herself feeling the same. “Let’s go!” she said, grabbing Fleur by her hand. “I’m sure we’ll find her somewhere!”

* * *

“Eek!” Bloom Hope landed, mostly painlessly, on what seemed like an old mattress. There was a moment of disorientation as the little magical girl tried to understand where she exactly was. She had fallen down, hadn’t she? Then why did this place look so much like an attic?

“I dunno if I should call myself lucky or unlucky!” said a childish voice from somewhere nearby. “I wanted Effie, but instead I got the three magical girls that Mistress told me to find. I’m going to be praised for sure!”

Sofia sat up, finding herself face to face with the Lilin. She looked a bit older than the Blooms’ current form was. Her skin was pale violet, her shoulder-length hair a darker shade of purple. Two nubby little horns extended from the top of her head and there was a black spade tail curled around her left leg. Wearing a plaid skirt and a black t-shirt, two holes had seemingly been cut on the back to make room for two bat-like wings. Her ears were long and pointed, her nails long, purple and claw-like; when she grinned, Sofia could see two rows of pointy, shark-like teeth. There was a twinkle of malevolence in her demonic eyes, yellow irises against black sclerae, two dark pinpoint pupils fixated on the magical girl.

“Dream Wave!” Cute as her opponent was, Bloom Hope didn’t hesitate. Thrusting her palms towards the girl, pink rings of force shot out as usual, tossing the Lilin backwards. There wasn’t much oomph to her attack, however. Nimbly tumbling a bit, she was back on her feet within a moment, giggling at the magical girl.

“Is that all? A little push like that wouldn’t hurt a fly! Looks like you need a little lesson about respecting your elders...” The Lilin extended her arm towards Bloom Hope, purple shadows extending forth from between her fingers.

Though she tried to stand up and jump away, Bloom Hope was just a bit too slow. Of the shadowy tendrils wrapped around her ankle, pulling her back on the bed. Another two grabbed her by her wrists, forcing her arms behind her back, pulling painfully enough to reduce the young magical girl to tears. “I-it hurts!” she said, the pitiful tone of her voice surprising even herself. “Let go! P-please...”

The Lilin laughed. “You really are just a kid! What’s that, begging for mercy? Boo hoo, it hurts so much!” She stepped closer, the shadows pulling at Bloom Hope and forcing her on her back. Hopping on the bed with her, digging her nails into her shoulders, she gave her a shark-like grin. “As much as I’d like to see you cry a little more, I’ll need your help in subduing the others. So why don’t I show you how much fun you can have when you stop being such a cry baby?”

Sofia really did feel like crying. She tried to blink away her tears, but the fear and shame of defeat kept forcing more to come pouring out. She wasn’t normally like this, was she, pitiful and weak? She hated being like this. “B-Bloom Char—!” she tried, but she was just a little too slow. Thrusting her hand down, the Lilin pierced the pink magical girl’s chest, dark energy pouring directly into her heart.

* * *

“Aagh! Not again!”

Turning the corridor, Lux and Sky found themselves in the entrance hall again. The warped house seemed to have no rhyme or reason to it, every path they took teasing something new before unceremoniously dumping them back to where they started. Lux was growing more frustrated with every moment, and even Sky was finding it hard to keep calm. They hadn’t heard Mary’s voice for a while now, and there was no trace of Sofia anywhere to be seen.

“That’s it. If I see this coat rack one more time, I’m going to smash it to bits!” Lux said, hitting her palm with her fist.

“...I’ve been thinking,” Sky said. “I don’t think she’s just shuffling rooms around. I think this isn’t actually Mary’s house.”

Lux frowned. “What do you mean, it isn’t her house? I’ve been here a dozen times.”

“Have you tried looking outside the windows? The curtains won’t open. If you try flipping a light switch, nothing happens. And well, it’s obvious, but rooms shouldn’t be able to just move around. Everything here feels wrong, can’t you sense it?”

“So we’re somewhere else. Some... magical illusion world. What does that matter? How does that help us?” Lux asked, kicking a shoe.

There was no immediate response. Bloom Sky pressed her hands against the wall next to her, then the floor, then another wall. “It means... I don’t think we can get to her just by running around. There might be no real path to where she even is. But I can sense her presence. It’s faint, well-hidden, but it’s there.”

Lux blinked. She tried to focus, too, but couldn’t. Her heart was pounding too much.

Bloom Sky pointed at a wall. “I think you could break this.”

“I guess I can try,” Lux said, drawing a breath and thrusting her palms against the spot that had been pointed out for her. “Blast Bolide!”

The wall exploded inwards, revealing a perfect void. Given the house’s layout, that’s where the bathroom should’ve been, but there was nothing there. Just pitch blackness that made Effie shiver.

Sky stepped in first, Lux following after. Neither of the young girls could no longer even pretend they weren’t afraid. Together, they walked through darkness... and then, the lights came on.

They were in the attic: wide, mostly empty, with some furniture and clothing clumped on one side. They weren’t alone. Sitting on a wooden box, casually kicking her legs was the Lilin, a young girl with demonic features and violet skin, a devilish grin on her face.

Lying on the floor, tied up and forced on their knees, were two other figures. To the Lilin’s left side was Mary, a fluffy-haired blonde wearing a simple blue dress, de-aged like the others were; to her other side was Sofia, not in her magical girl form, tears in her eyes as she looked at the other two girls. And above them, hanging from the ceiling on worryingly thin ropes were two guillotine blades, sharp, heavy and final.

“Let. Them. Go,” said Lux, clenching her fists. “I’m going to kick your butt, Irma!”

The Lilin kept grinning. “Oh, if it isn’t Effie! Fancy meeting you here. You haven’t introduced your two friends. Or... I guess it’s gonna be just one friend, soon.” Her demonic eyes narrowed. “And you can call me the Vexing Imp. Having a human name no longer sounds appropriate, for some reason.”

Compared to Lux, Sky seemed to keep her calm. She was watching her opponent quietly, her eyes wandering between the blades and the two prisoners.

Lux stomped the floor. “Cut it out! This isn’t like you, Irma. What happened to not wanting to hurt anyone with your jokes?”

“I said that, didn’t I? That was dumb of me,” the Imp said, her spade tail idly wagging behind her. “I take that back. There’s nothing more fun than tormenting the weak. Seeing them cry and beg for mercy, giving them a bit of hope before snatching it away. My Mistress showed me the way.”

“I’m going to purify you so hard you’re gonna be crying about it for...”

“Oops.” The Vexing Imp swiped her tail, ever-so-slightly. The shadows in the ceiling moved in response, forming a blade that slashed across the ropes holding the blades.

“No!”

Lux and Sky reacted instantly, rushing forward. No human could’ve moved as fast as they had: there was a yellow and a blue blur, Lux going for Mary and Sky for Sofia.

Tackling Mary out of the way of the blade just in time, almost getting cut in half herself, Lux rolled on the floor and sprung back to action. Sky, meanwhile—

Sky didn’t grab Sofia. Instead, she kicked her as hard as she could, halting her own momentum with Sofia’s face. The effect was the same: the cinnamon-haired girl rolled across the room, out of the way of the deadly blade.

The Imp watched the display with her mouth hanging open. So did Lux. But as the dust cleared, it became apparent that Sky’s intuition had been right; Sofia no longer looked like her usual self. Her skin was pale pink, and she displayed the same horns, wings and a tail that Irma did, the impish features obvious now that the illusion had been shattered. “H-how could you!” The Vexing Imp yelled. “Kicking your own friend in the...”

“Sparkle Blitz!” Bloom Sky yelled, a zap of lightning blowing apart the crate the Imp had been sitting on and sending her flying. “Sparkle Blitz!” Another one hit her mid-air, zinging her and eliciting a pitiful scream. “Sparkle Blitz!” The third bolt hit her as soon as she landed, leaving her open for Lux to jump in and finish things.

“Burst...” the yellow magical girl yelled, her right foot glowing gold. “...Meteor!”

Weakened as the magical girls’ power might’ve been, this was too much for the Imp. Bloom Lux kicked her like a deflated football, the ensuing explosion knocking the magical girl herself back and tossing the Imp against the wall. She wouldn’t move again, for a good while.

* * *

Sofia and Irma were knocked out cold, the purification having thankfully worked on them both. It hadn’t been needed with Mary: she had been human all along, it seemed. The experience had been harrowing for her regardless.

“Effiiieeee...” she cried, hugging her friend tight. Thankfully, the Vexing Imp’s magic had vanished the moment she had been purified. None of them were little children anymore, and the strange facsimile of Mary’s house was gone as well. Effie and Fleur were in her room now, trying to help her calm down. “I thought I was gonna dieee!”

“T-there, there,” Effie said, patting her back. “It’s all okay, now. Should we have some tea...?”

“I’ll go make some,” Fleur said, stepping over the unconscious bodies of Sofia and Irma. As was the case with others, it would be unlikely Irma would remember anything about what had transpired during her time as a Lilin; their secret identities were safe from her, though the same couldn’t be said about Mary. Hopefully, that wouldn’t cause problems down the road.

Climbing downstairs, she checked the entrance hall wall. Her intuition had been right, it seemed. No gaping hole anywhere to be seen. That was good; it’d have been difficult to explain to her parents.

“Hrmm...” Edeltrude said, appearing in the entrance hall mirror. “That was a Lunaciasphere. A false reality created by a Lilin. Not too different from the world of reflections where I am, fundamentally speaking.”

Fleur pursed her lips. “You couldn’t have warned us about that kind of a thing beforehand?”

“W-well...” the princess said, looking guilty. “She felt too weak to be able to create one. And whatever this was, it was an imperfect attempt at best. She could barely control it herself, and it ended up being just a bad copy of this house. The really powerful Lilin can create considerably more dangerous worlds, in which even the laws of nature are theirs to command. Fighting Lilin within a full Lunaciasphere of their own creation is essentially impossible.”

“I see,” Fleur said. “I suppose we’ll have to be more careful in the future. Is Sofia going to be okay?”

A nod. “She will be. It’s good that you saved her as quickly as you did. Being turned into a Lilin’s servant for an extended period of time risks tainting your shards, even if you do manage to purify them afterwards. And of course, had you waited long enough, there would have been no going back.” Edeltrude’s tone was serious. “But there was no harm done, this time.”

Fleur looked at the princess for a while, and finally nodded. She walked to the kitchen in silence, worries weighing heavily on her mind.


	2. Another Fate

”Those three are strong.” The girl plucks the string idly, producing another vibrant little note. “They don’t quite know what they are doing, but they are strong.”

The visitor sits patiently, listening on. The tiny girl rubs her milk-white eyes, yawning a bit. “Still? You want to see more? It’s getting late...” That was not quite right. It does not get late, not here. “I need my sleep. But one more, I suppose.”

She taps on the string, pointing out the spot. This branch is clearer than most. The thin path leading out of the main one, small as it was, is visible to the naked eye. “The only way their adversaries can win is by trickery. The blue champion is quite smart, so that’s a bit tough. But look, here. She is barely keeping it together as it is.”

There is a lot going on. Her powers are weak, and she has lost her dearest friend. The childish emotions welling up within her are barely held bottled up. “It speaks volumes that she can still see through things... and see things through,” the little girl said, giggling a bit at her own wordplay. “Chances are, though, that she simply can’t focus enough to detect the darkness within her friend. I wonder what would happen, then?” Her finger touches down on the thin string. “Shall we find out?”

* * *

“Oops.” The Vexing Imp swiped her tail, ever-so-slightly. The shadows in the ceiling moved in response, forming a blade that slashes across the ropes holding the blades.

“No!”

Lux and Sky reacted instantly, rushing forward. No human could’ve moved as fast as they had: there was a yellow and a blue blur, Lux going for Mary and Sky for Sofia.

Tackling Mary out of the way of the blade just in time, almost getting cut in half herself, Lux rolled on the floor and sprung back to action. Sky, meanwhile—

“Wh... agh...” As soon as she grabbed her friend and rolled out of the way of the guillotine blade, something pierced clean through her chest. It hurt, if a bit less than one might expect; worse still felt the shadows spreading forth from her heart, propagating through her body. “Sofia...?”

“Sky!” Lux yelled, leaving Mary on the floor and hopping up to run for her friend’s aid.

“Where do you think you’re going?” the Vexing Imp said, giggling as she created two lashes out of purple shadows, whipping at the yellow magical girl and forcing her to hop back.

Sofia looked different, now. Her flesh was pale pink, her features clearly demonic. The tiny horns on her head, the small bat wings and thin spade tail, the pointy ears—she looked like a younger version of the Vexing Imp herself, complete with a razor-toothed grin. Her right hand had pierced Sky’s chest, her pink claws wrapped around her heart. There was no blood; a small dark hole had appeared where her hand had thrust through her friend’s body. “Duuuumb! You’re dumb, dumb, dumb!” Sofia said, giggling as she squeezed a little harder, eliciting a pained little scream from Bloom Sky. “You fell for it, and now you’ve lost!”

“Burst...” Bloom Lux rushed the Imp now, her right foot glowing gold. “Meteor!” she screamed, bringing her leg down like an axe where the Lilin was sitting. The attack was clumsy at best, though, and Lux’s smaller size limited her range. Deftly hopping out of the way, the Imp giggled, the crate behind her exploding from the force of impact, the magical girl herself thrown backwards by the force of her own impact.

“Too slow!” she yelled, striking at Lux with her shadows again, grabbing her by her other leg. Before the magical girl could react, the Imp began whipping her around, roughly slamming her against the floor and the walls. “You... can’t... do... anything by yourself! And you’re all alone now against the three of us!”

Bloom Sky was breathing roughly, her body twitching. Her magical girl form broke, the light blue of her hair changing to its usual raven black; other changes would rapidly follow. Already, her skin was turning pale blue, her nails growing and sharpening, transforming into little blue claws. “P-please. I don’t want to...” she begged, tears in her eyes. Desperately blinking them away, her white sclera were already turning inky black. All the bravado was gone; she really looked like a young girl now, afraid and in pain.

That only made the impified Sofia giggle. Pulling her hand free from her friend’s chest, she pinned her down and leaned in close, kissing her cheek, wet with tears. “Mistress was right. This is so much fun. I love this. I love seeing you in pain, Fleur!” she said, licking her cheek a few more times for a good measure. “I wish I could hurt you like this forever, but we’re going to be friends again soon. There’s gonna be so many others to torment, though!”

“N-no... Lux, help...” Fleur said, her voice small and pitiful. The last round of transformations were already starting, though. Her scalp itched as little horns pushed through; the teeth in her mouth turned pointy and sharp enough to rend flesh. A leathery tail and a pair of wings pushed through behind her, uncomfortably stuffy under her clothes. The darkness that was radiating from her heart had now nearly completely overtaken her. She giggled. This felt good, after all. Sofia’s tongue, playfully licking her face, tickled her. Impulsively, she leaned up to kiss her, all inhibitions lost.

“D-damn it, why...” Bloom Lux mumbled. Her head was spinning, her body was hurting. The Vexing Imp slammed her against the walls a few times for a good measure, her purple shadows slowly moving to bind the magical girl’s whole body. She couldn’t move and her friends were already lost to her. Was this it? She just wanted to cry.

“So, I was thinking...” the Imp said casually, her shadows bringing Lux over to her. Grabbing her by her chin, her nails painfully digging into her flesh, she tilted her head up and forced her to stare her in the eye. “I think I lied. I think I did want to hurt Mary. It felt really good to make her cry, you know? Because she’s pathetic. Because she’s a natural victim. I mean, look at her!” The Imp giggled, wrenching Lux’s head to the side. Mary was there, hiding in the corner, sobbing silently and hugging herself tightly.

“Y-you’re a monster...” Lux said. The shadows around her squeezed her tighter, tight enough to hurt. She couldn’t help but to tear up.

“Yeah. But I’m strong, and unlike you, I know what I like.” The Vexing Imp pushed Lux down onto the floor, the shadows still wrapped around her. Stepping up to her, she planted a foot on her stomach, grinding at the girl under her. “You’d like this too. You like hurting people. Don’t even try to hide it! You beat up all those bullies because you wanted to see them in pain. You wanted to prove you were tougher than them, wanted to see them cry, wanted to hold it over them. And it felt good!”

Bloom Lux opened her mouth to protest, but all she could produce was a sob. The fear of her opponent, the embarrassment of loss, the frustration of not being able to do anything, of not even being in control of her own emotions—it was all too much for her.

“I turned you into a little kid so you could be more honest with your emotions, but it didn’t really change who you are. I always kind of looked up to you since you were strong and cool, but... look at you now! Playground rules. The one who cries first, loses.”

Lux turned her head, looking at her friends through her tears. Fleur had pushed Sofia off her, and they were now play wrestling. Two newly born imps, giggling and taking delight in hurting each other. They looked like they were having the time of their life. The Vexing Imp stomped down harder on Lux’s stomach. She couldn’t help but to cry out, a pitiful sob caught in her throat.

“I thought about it. I could just break that little thing within you, leave you without your powers, imprison you here to be tormented as much as I’d like. But you’d have learned nothing, would you? You wouldn’t know how much fun I was having.” Hopping down, the Imp sat down on Lux’s chest, smirking as she looked down at her. “So here’s what I’m gonna do. I’m gonna take those two lovebirds with me and hand them over for Mistress. She’ll praise me and reward me. And you? I’m going to turn you too, but I’m going to lock you in this attic forever. Not alone, no. Mary here will keep you company. She’ll be all the fun you’ll ever need, and I’ll trust you’ll be able to make her last for a good, long while. She really makes a nice sound as she cries, doesn’t she...?”

“W-wait, please, I...” Lux said, but it was too late. The imp’s purple claws had already pierced her chest. She cried out in pain—and Mary watched in horror as her best friend was beginning to transform before her eyes. Her skin taking a pale-yellow tone, her nails sharpening into claws, demonic features making themselves present.

Effie giggled. This didn’t feel so bad, after all.


End file.
